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Sunny Fresh Foods President Receives Tekne Leadership Award
MINNEAPOLIS — Sunny Fresh Foods President Mike Luker received the Tekne Leadership Award for his outstanding management philosophy and leadership at the Tekne annual awards ceremony at the Minneapolis Convention Center Thursday evening.
Through Luker’s leadership and vision, Sunny Fresh Foods (SFF) has grown steadily since 2000, almost doubling its employee base. SFF, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargill, is based in Monticello, MN and is a leading supplier of value-added egg products for the foodservice industry.
The award program is sponsored by the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) and Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), in partnership with LifeScience Alley to recognize technology innovators and leaders who have made lasting contributions to enhancing the quality of life and competitiveness of Minnesota. The awards are separated into both emerging and established company categories that recognize the best and brightest in the innovation, development, education, commercialization and management of technology. This marks the fourth consecutive year in which a Cargill business has been recognized for innovation through a Tekne Award.
“This award really reflects the work of the 680 Sunny Fresh Foods stakeholders, our employees,” said Luker. “The award would not be possible without their focus on providing our customers with innovative solutions that create distinctive value.”
“Sunny Fresh Foods may make egg-based food products, but under Mike’s leadership, this translates into services that provide solutions to customer problems while also driving excellence and sustainability throughout the supply chain,” said Jerry Rose, corporate vice president at Cargill. “ For Mike, long-term, successful solutions equal better business processes based on Sunny Fresh Foods employees and technology that together are constantly raising the bar within the industry.”
“Luker’s vision of business excellence clearly implicates and involves the whole supply chain from egg farm to fork—and beyond. SFF’s involvement with partners outside its immediate business scope reflects this vision,” Rose said.
Last year, SFF announced a joint venture, Catallia Mexican Foods, located in the Twin Cities, to produce tortillas. SFF is bringing its supply, processing systems and food service marketing expertise to a company that did not previously have access to such expertise.
“Mike’s vision also translates into more highly-skilled jobs in Minnesota,” said Rose. “The number of jobs at Monticello in engineering, IT, and research and development has doubled since 2000. Plus, a new plant was acquired and remodeled in Big Lake, MN in 2005.”
SFF received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for the second time in 2005. Congress established the Baldrige award program in 1987 to recognize U.S. companies for achievements in quality and business performance excellence. It is named after the late U.S. commerce secretary, Malcolm Baldrige.
About Sunny Fresh Foods
Headquartered in Monticello, Sunny Fresh is a manufacturer of value-added egg-based food products focused on the foodservice industry. It has processing facilities in Monticello and Big Lake, Minn.; Mason City and Panora, Iowa; and Lake Odessa, Mich.,with a total employment of about 680 stakeholders. Sunny Fresh is a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Cargill.
About Cargill
Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 149,000 employees in 63 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed.